


living agreements

by localswampcrow



Series: What Agreements? [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blonde!Cas, DeanCas - Freeform, Dean’s birthday, Destiel - Freeform, Ficlet, Fluff, Led Zeppelin References, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Music, One Shot, Queer Castiel (Supernatural), Queer Dean Winchester, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28726737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localswampcrow/pseuds/localswampcrow
Summary: Things from the same verse as Covenant
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: What Agreements? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2118498
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas lay in bed together not long after Cas got back from the Empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song up in this chapter is “Thank You” by Led Zeppelin

After a brisk and eventful Tuesday, they're finally horizontal under the soft sheets and fuzzy purple duvet swaddling a heavy weighted blanket. It leaves no room for the shadows to wriggle in between. Lights twinkle, held in the copper string that link them together, the reflection like stars in a deep blue sky. Nearly forehead to forehead they are small in the king sized bed, hooked at the knee, the ankle. 

The radio quietly whirring, the volume so low it's almost not there. 

_ If the sun refused to shine _

_ I would still be loving you _

"Are you proud of me?" Coveted, hopeful, like the answer could be elusive.

A hand, warmed by the sun and as gentle as the moon, sweeps down his arm, then returns in the same direction. Petting behind and around his ear, fingers carding through the short, light brown hair, there is a shared sigh. 

_ When mountains crumble to the sea _

_ There will still be you and me _

"Dean…" he trails, waves bigger than at the beach swell and start to leak from his eyes, yet they do not dull of pigment. 

"I am so,  _ so proud  _ of you."

_ Since when was he holding back sobs?  _ Dean wonders as he chokes on what is both relieved laughter and absolvent, heaving fits of tears. 

The room smells of beeswax, leather and faintly of patchouli oil.

_ Kind a woman, I give you my all _

_ Kind a woman, nothing more _

Cas fits perfectly in the crook of Dean's neck as he pulls them tight together, wooly and snug. Bodies unwound and then rolled so tightly together they almost seem to physically be one. A thin line defining blue from green. 

_ Little drops of rain whisper of the pain _

_ Tears of loves lost in the days gone by _

Silver tipped fingers run cross stitch up and down Dean's back, still under the heavy purple weight. Nothing can hurt them here. Contented and united, pentagram on the ceiling and a deadbolt on the door, and down the hall is the rest of their family: Sam and Eileen, Charlie and Stevie, Donna, Jody Bobby, and Claire and Kaia and Alex and - the list just goes on. Jack helped.  _ They all _ made it back. 

"Are you proud of  _ me?"  _ Watery and muffled from speaking against skin, their words rise to Dean's ear.

_ And so today, my world it smiles _

_ Your hand in mine, we walk the miles _

"More than I know how to say out loud. I'm so fucking proud of you, Cas," He says, oh so quietly, into shaggy midnight hair.

"Thank you for coming back to me."

_ Thanks to you, it will be done _

_ For you to me are the only one _

Holding tight for as long as they can both stand, before it is too hot and they both need cool breaths in order to be comfortable. Shedding a layer, a thick long sleeved striped shirt that they found in a free pile, Cas lays back down, twining their fingers with Dean's like two vines that jump at the same time and twist up a pole. 

Still hooked at the ankle and now by the hand, Dean gazes through glimmering, glowing eyes across the pillow to his one and only.  _ The little lights will be better than a lamp, Dean, then we can keep them on at night too, for a nightlight.  _ They get to just look at each other, in the softly lit cave that is  _ their _ room now. No time constraints, no walls, no Big Bad. 

_ Happiness, no more be sad _

_ Happiness, I'm glad. _

  
  



	2. kiss of the sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I see everyone talking about blonde!Cas and so of course I stan this and so now it is canon in Covenant verse that Cas slowly goes blonde as the fic happens. Timestamp between chapter 3 and 4

It's as if Cas's new, all-his-own body was waiting for something. As each day of spring passes, the sun staying a little longer in the sky and shining a little warmer every day, their body transformed. All human, all Cas, a queer soul in a body that once contained pure angelic grace. The soul is still as enormous as a skyscraper, as all beautiful free souls are. Boundless inside a boundary. 

He thinks about the hill, sitting on the finely crafted maple bench, with Dean at his side, Dean listening to him, seeing truth. It had been Dean who noticed the chang in their hair first.  _ Your hair looks lighter  _ he had said to Cas the next morning as they sat in the courtyard passing a joint.  _ Is that normal?  _ they had asked, nervousness leaking through the words, despite the haze.  _ Um, I mean, maybe it's different now that you're like, all the way human? Could just be the sun.  _

So they stand in front of the mirror, Dean readying for bed down the hall. Cas thinking about Jimmy, Dean thinking about Cas. He pads quietly through the hallway to join Cas in the bathroom, slipping arms around his waist, chin on his shoulder.  _ If you're going blonde, that's no issue for me.  _ His smile so cheeky and so sly.  _ You'd be attracted to me if my hair were bright purple, Dean.  _ They cracked their own smile. _ I don't think you should worry about it baby, Jack is looking out for us.  _ He hums, pressing a kiss to the side of their head before releasing his arms and grabbing his toothbrush. Cas is suspicious, but knows Dean is right. 

They don't know what's happening with their body, which only makes them more uncertain of the road ahead.  _ Trans. Nonbinary. Queer.  _ Terms he knew but never thought would apply personally.  _ Maybe it's a good thing. A physical manifestation of my revelation.  _ They offer up as a possible answer. Dean nods, toothbrush in mouth, eyes on Cas as they do the same.  _ I think it makes you look more like Jack, if that's even possible.  _ This warms his heart, it warms them both. 


	3. Order of Service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They keep each Order of Service

Dean always keeps the Order of Service. He has a special drawer in his desk with an ever-growing stack of them. Sometimes, on long snowy nights, or when the first rays of sun creep in through the windows in June, he lays in bed and looks at Cas, who gazes back with understanding eyes, as Dean takes out the whole stack. They smell like Nog Champa, because they keep incense in that drawer too. 

Sometimes Cas is silent, remembering each of those Sundays in extraordinary detail, thinking about things Dean said, worn neckline of the shirt he wore, or the look on his face as he watched the Reverend speak, or as they listened to the musical interludes and old folk songs. Sometimes though, when there are poems printed in the program, Cas will read them to Dean. They find deep joy in seeing the gathering of love and faith that these people have in their community. 

He's human, has been for months now since he escaped the empty with a human soul instead of angel Grace, but the weight of it is still sinking in. Going to the local Unitarian Church has been an incredible Godsend (pun intended). Something to ground them, even though Dean has that mostly covered. It’s centering for Dean, too. Cas hates the God they once knew but they were raised in faith, in a big community with their angel siblings and they all believed in something… and even though it caused them immense trauma, they have faith. He has faith in his love for Dean and because of him the rest of humanity. It was a no brainer for them to turn to this type of thing.

Religious? No. In love with love and with life? Yes. And that's what matters to them now. 


	4. The Big Four-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean’s 42nd birthday. Happy birthday, beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fits near the first chapter of Covenant. The timeline doesn’t make complete sense but oh well. 
> 
> The song in this chapter is “At Last” by Etta James

2021 does in fact feel like a blessing. Cas is still not verticle a lot of the time, struggling under the new weight of having a human soul shoved into an unprepared body with billions of years of angel memories already kicking around inside. He's highly sensitive to every taste and sound and smell and touch, but Dean is medicine. Today is his 42nd birthday. 

Weeks have gone by since Cas got back, mind heavy and muddled with the freshness of his humanness, but at least it's a good excuse to stay in bed with Dean all day. It's been awesome, besides that fact that they feel pretty out of sorts. Today though, they've made a promise to themself and Dean to get out of bed and be as close to a fully functioning person as possible. 

The whole family loads into the bunker for the weekend, 6 packs stuff the fridge in between burger meat and some assorted vegetables. They all sing, horribly off key and out of synch, and he blows out the candles, smile brighter than the sun.

There's cake and pie _and_ rice crispies, because _we are going all out, Dean. You deserve this. We all love you so fucking much_. 

Jody does not stop mothering him and putting more desserts on his plate the whole evening, he's too sated and grateful to refuse anyway. It’s been forever since he saw so much of his family, and after having his heart broken when he thought he lost Cas forever combined with the lecture from Jack about how his job is to live life to the fullest with Cas at his side he’s to exhausted to even think about defecting about the extra attention. 

Long after singing _Happy Birthday_ and the rounds of beers turn into whiskeys, Jody and Donna are shooting the shit with Sam and Beth at the maple table, while Garth and Eileen are having an animated conversation and laughing their asses off sitting on the stairs. Kaia and Claire are giggling at something on a laptop tucked away between the bookshelves, and who knows where Charlie and Stevie might be, but they’re all there laughing and talking too loud with alcohol and happiness coursing through their veins. And it’s all because they’re together to celebrate Dean. 

A sleepy, affectionate Cas at his side, mumbling sweet nothings in his ear, their whole family safe and gathered in one place, he literally could not ask for anything more. 

Dean was going to say it back on that horrid, heart shattering night in November. He was going to spill it all, become a raw vibrating nerve deconstructed at the feet of an angel but then… it all went to shit. But now Cas is back and they both have orders from Jack to accept that they're meant to be together and that they're not allowed to deny their love for each other anymore. Dean's never been happier to comply.

_At last_

_My love has come along_

_My lonely days are over_

_And life is like a song (Oh, yeah, yeah)_

  
  


"Happy birthday, love." Cas whispers against his jaw as they dance so slowly, pressed together the dimly lit library. They really went all out. Sam and Eileen decorated all the common spaces with string lights and streamers, and it looks more like a kids birthday than a 42 year old but that’s exactly how Dean likes it and everyone knows that. And it’s perfect. 

_At last_

_The skies above are blue_

_My heart was wrapped up in clover_

_The night I looked at you_

It's late but not that late, and Dean is loose limbed from whiskey, hands anchored at Cas's hips as they move lazily across the long room. 

“I wouldn’t be here without you.”

“ _I_ wouldn’t be here without _you.”_

_I found a dream_

_That I could speak to_

_A dream that I can call my own_

“I never thought I would be this old… couple times it looked like it was _really_ end of the road.”

Cas snorts, “couple times?”

Dean hums and smiles against the wild coffee waves of Cas’s hair, just above his ear. Cas wraps his arms under Dean’s and rests his hands across the tops of Dean’s shoulders, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. 

_I found a thrill to press my cheek to_

_A thrill that I’ve never known (Oh, yeah, yeah)_

_And you smiled,_

Squeezing his fingers in Dean’s soft green pullover he says, 

“I’m never leaving again.”

_You smiled_

“Good,” Dean signs, “I’m never letting you walk out that door. Ever. I love you.”

  
“I love you, too.”  
  


_And then the spell was cast_

_And we are in Heaven_

Sure they’re both a little bit drunk, but we all know they mean it. Everyone does. For the whole day Dean is worshipped: offerings of food and reminiscing old stories, of hugs, toasts to all the righteous and caring things Dean has ever done, and once he and Cas are settled in their room for the night it’s a different kind of worship. The bunker is humming with life and oh so many bodies. 

Dean and Cas’s room is no doubt the source of some less-than-quiet questionable sounds, but if anyone else does hear it, they say nothing. After all, Dean and Cas ran circles around each other for 12 years, and no one in their right mind would even try to imply anything negative about Dean’s bugger birthday gift, which is Cas. 

_For you are mine at last._


End file.
